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Nanny Confessions

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Children's Books and Activities About Rain

Weekly Trip to the Library for Nannies and Au Pairs

In many parts of the world, spring brings rain. After reading books about rain (see below) teach your charges about the parts of the water cycle: precipitation, collection, evaporation, and condensation. Make a terranium to show the cycle of rain.

Get a small plastic container which can be covered tightly with either a clear lid or plastic wrap. Put soil in the bottom. Then, put a plant seed in the soil and water the soil. Cover the terrarium with the lid or plastic wrap and place in a location where it can get sunshine. Observe what happens to the water in this closed container and see if you can observe the different parts of the water cycle. Observe your terrarium for a few weeks. Have the kids record their observations in a science journal.

Each day look for the following things:

1. What is the seed doing?2. On which parts of the terrarium do you see water?3. What new is happening in your terrarium today?

Here are our book suggestions:

The Puddle by David McPhail

A small child asks to go out and play in the rain. While sailing a toy boat in a puddle the boy is joined by a frog who wants a ride on his boat. Then a turtle floats by, followed by a helpful crocodile, a pig in a swimsuit, and a very thirsty elephant. But, tot all the animals are nice. A frog who steals the boat is a bully. This is simply a must read and a great book for any child's bookshelf.

Who Likes Rain? by Wong Herbert Yee

All the elements click together in this sweet, simple celebration of rainy weather. A little girl puts on her raincoat and boots to explore the drizzly day, describing all she sees. She discovers frogs, fish, and worms like rain. But, do cats and dogs like rain? Well, the little girl likes rain, as we see when she goes puddle-stomping at the very end.

Red Rubber Boot Day by Mary Lyn Ray

A little kid thinks of all the things he could do on a rainy day such as read, draw, and play with blocks, or he could go out and stomp around! There isn't a lot of text in this book, but the vivid illustrations will make every activity, especially the splash scenes, look like fun to preschoolers.